In addition to antiviral agents for non-hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections, 1 inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), such as ciclesonide has been repurposed as one of potential therapy for outpatients with COVID-19. 2 e5 Although several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) 2 e5 had investigated the efficacy of inhaled ciclesonide, their findings were not consistent. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to assess the effect of inhaled ciclesonide for outpatients with COVID-19.

We searched PubMed, and ClinicalTrials. gov from inception to June 15, 2022. Only RCTs that investigated the clinical efficacy of inhaled ciclesonide in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 were included. The following data were extracted from each included study: year of publication, study design, study population and clinical outcomes. The primary outcome was the resolution of symptoms, and the secondary outcome was risk of hospitalization, mortality and adverse event (AE). Pooled estimates of the risk ratios (RRs) and the accompanying 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated by random effect model using Review Manager version 5.3. Four RCTs 2 e5 were included in this meta-analysis. Overall, 881 patients were involved in this study, in which 441 patients who received inhaled ciclesonide and 434